My name is Mary Z. John and I live in Tennessee. We've been retired since 1991, and have a passion for travel and photography. I paint, do needlepoint and knit, read, work word puzzles. John is a rower and loves to read and work word puzzles, too.

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Wednesday rain - plus a bonus

As awful as things
have been around our area, it is now fairly quiet outside my door. Since Monday, I've had over 6" of rain
in my gauge - 5" last night - with lots of thunder and lightning. There were tornadoes and fatalities just SW
of us in NE Alabama; in Athens, TN, between here and Knoxville; and in Polk
County, the second county east of ours on the NC/TN state line. Plus the horrors of the awful fire in
Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, TN, Monday and Tuesday. I hope all this rain has at least put out
most of the fires. Because of all the
rain, we've had flash flood warnings, too.

I drove myself to my
doctor's appointment this morning. I
knew the swim class would be cancelled because of the lightning, so didn't see
my buffird. Nothing like driving for the
first time in two months in a steady rain - but all was okay.

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I'm not a cook any
more, but I know folks who would like this recipe from today's paper.

Salted Caramel Sauce

1 cup heavy cream,
warmed

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup (1/2 stick)
unsalted butter (cut into small pieces)

1 teaspoon vanilla
extract

1 teaspoon kosher
salt

In a large, heavy saucepan, combine
sugar and water and turn heat to medium high. Stir just until sugar is
dissolved and then stop stirring completely. Do not stir the mixture; even if
it looks a little grainy, that's just the sugar doing its thing. Boil for 6-7
minutes until the mixture has turned golden brown and starts to smell like
caramel; make sure it doesn't get too dark or start to burn.

When the mixture is a deep golden brown,
turn the heat down to medium and stir as you slowly add the warmed cream. The
mixture will boil up vigorously (this is
why you use a large pot). Remove the pot
from the heat and stir in the butter until it is melted and the mixture is
smooth. Stir in the vanilla and salt.

Cool the mixture to room temperature, then
use right away, or transfer to a glass jar or two with a tight seal. Store in
the refrigerator for up to a month.